Improvement in spring-beds



waited 5deurs parte other.

Letters Patent No. 99,779, dated February '15, 1870.

IMPROVEMENT IN SPRING-BEDS.

The. Schedule referred to n'these Letters Patent and making part of the same.

To all whom 'it may concern.-

Be it known that we, Hannon W. LADD and GEORGE F. LADD, of Chelsea, in the county of Suffolk, and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Spring-Beds; and we do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, sutcient to enable others skilled in the art to which our invention appertains to make'and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which- Fignre l is a side elevation of the device illustrating our invention.

Figure 2 is a bottom view thereof'.

The object of this invention is to simplify and reduce the cost of manufacturing spring-beds by dispensing with the framelwhich ordinarily forms a part of them.

By means of spring-clamps, which will be `more fully described hereafter, We are enabled to attach the springs directly to the slats of the bedstead, thus obviating the necessity of a separate frame, the bedstead and the slats answering the same purpose.

By dispensing with a frame we avoid many inconveniences. When a frame is used it must be of a size correspondingr to that of the bedstead to which it is to be applied, for if it is too large the hedstead will not admit, and if too small the bedding is not properly supported at its sides or edges. For this reason dealers usually keep a supply of various sizes in stock, to supply the demand for the many different sizes of bedsteads.

rlhe cost of transportation is also lessened, by reason of there being less stock and weight.

We use longitudinal slats, with two or more springs attached thereto in any desirable manner, and at nroper distances apart.

We prefer spiral or conoidal vv,spx-ings, but other springs may be used.

W'e now attach these springs to cross-bars or sup? ports. The slats ordinarily used and sold with bedsteadswill answer every purpose; and when a single slat would be insuliicient to support the weight, we place two or more together by means of the springclamps attached to the slats. By placing the slats in this manner, they answer every practical purpose of a single bar and utilize the slats belonging to the bedstead, and save the expense of bars manufactured expressly for the purpose.

The spring-clamps can be made of various forms, shapes, and materials, producing the same result, and operating substantially the same. i

We prefer to have them of spring-wire, of the same or corresponding form shown in the drawing WV. We take a piece of wire of the proper length, and turn Yfor convenience we prefer that it he done first.

one end at right angles to the other, as shown at a. This point is intended to bear against the under surface of the slat or bar A. W'e then make one or more coils, as shown at b. These coils serve as aneye of loop to connect with the springs, (this connection may be permanent or temporary,) and they also act as a spring in the clamp. The wire is then bent, as shown at g, andthe end turned so as to form a catch or hook, h., to connect with the other side of the spring B.

The application is as follows, viz:

The springB is placed .upon the supporting bars or slats A, and the spring clamp connected to the spring at 11. The end of the clamp a is then placed against the under surface of the bal-A; the part of the clamp represented by b g h is then raised until the hook h catches upon the other side of the spring B, as shown at B h.

Before the part of the clamp b g l1, is raised to B h, it is in the position shown by the dotted lines b g 7i.; but when it is raised and connected to the' -spring at B h, the spring of the clamp is obtained, and holds the spring B firmly to the bar A. These spring-clamps are no part of the spring, but maybe permanently attached thereto when desired, as shown in drawings accompanying this specification. Ve do not confine ourselves to any particular shape or materials for these clamps; neither do we claim a spring of itself having its lower coil extended so as to form a spring-clamp, such a spring having been used and patented by one John Flynn, but not in combination with a spring-Slat.

A spring made in this manner is objectionable for our purpose in many respects; among which are that and stiffness, and to be of such form as to be easily-v and readily applied.

By using a sutiicient number of springs attached to the ordinary slats of a bedstead, by means of our spring-clamps a good spring-bed, similar in appearance and action to the ordinary upholstered springbed, is produced, and can be made without the use of spring-slats by simply placing the bedding directly on the upper surface of the springs B.

In applying the springs to a bedstead, we ir'st attach` them to the spring-slats, although-it maybe done after the spring is attached to the cross-bars A, put

Ve then place tlie springs B on the cross-bars A at the proper place, and hold them there by means of the spring-clamps. It is better to first arrange the outside spring-slats at proper distances from 'the side railsl of the bedstead, and then place thercmainder atregnlar distances from cach other. The number of springslats required will vary according to the width of the bedstead andthe amount of spring desired. It will be readily seen that a. given number of slats can be used for bedsteads varying several inches in Width.

I t will thus be seen that by using longitudinal springslats in combination with springs having clamps, either forming a part of them or detachable therefrom, the object of which is to readily connect them to crossbars A,rtl1us uniting spring-slats, springs, and crossbars together, we are enabled to produce a spring-bed having many advantages over those where a frame is used, and also at a much less cost.

Having thus described our invention,

What we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. The detachable spring-clamp W, substantially a and for the purpose described.

2. The combination with the spiral springs and longitndinal spring-slats of the spring-clamps, when made separate from the springs, for the purpose described.

The combination of spring-clamps, either separate or part of the springs, for the purpcse described, with the spiral springs and longtmliual spring-slats,

when the springs and slats are united by means of` Witnesses SAML. JnNNIsoN, ALBERT CARTER. 

